Northern Illinois University
Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships

Export control regulations are federal laws regulating the export, transfer or transmission of certain commodities, software, technology and technical information from the United States to a foreign destination or to foreign nationals on U.S. soil. Export control laws may arise for one or more of the following reasons:

• The nature of the export has a military application or economic protection issue
• There are U.S. government concerns about the country organization or individual receiving the technology or information and
• The end use, or the end user, of the export is of concern.

If the research falls into a category enacting export control laws the researcher may apply for an export license. There are three federal regulations governing university sponsored research:

• The Export Administration Regulations (EAR)
• The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)
• The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

The OFAC covers sanctioned countries.

Fundamental Research Exclusion

Fundamental research is basic or applied research in science and/or engineering when the resulting information is expected to become part of the public domain. This means there are no restrictions on publication beyond those intended to protect pre-existing proprietary information or intellectual property rights.

If the research in question is fundamental research export control regulations do not apply.

NIU Research and Export Control

It is a smart practice to check with the Office of Research Compliance and Integrity if a researcher is:

• sending research elements overseas,
• discussing research with persons outside of the U.S.,
• discussing research with a foreign national inside the U.S. or
• allowing visual inspections of any technology, software or technical data to any non-U.S. citizen whether in the U.S. of abroad.

Researchers should be aware that criminal penalties exist for individuals who unlawfully export or disclose export-controlled information.